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I went through a few dash cams before deciding on features that matter most to me.

First, the dash cam needs a monitor. I will no longer use a dash cam without a monitor. Without a monitor, I don’t know if the cam is recording or not. Without a monitor, I don’t know if I have the dash cam angled correctly. Without a monitor, I can’t review footage. I need a monitor. The Eachine AT55C Car Camera has a monitor.

Second, the monitor must turn off after a minute or so. Monitors that stay on distract me, especially at night. The AT55C’s monitor turns off.

Third, the dash cam must record onto a memory card in a format that doesn’t require I install any sort of software onto my computer. That way, I can take the card out and view the video. The AT55C records onto a micro SD card (not included) in MOV format.

The AT55C has every feature I want and a bunch that I don’t use, but maybe others might like. For instance, I turned off the LDW and distance alarm because the beeps were annoying me. If I can’t tell I’m over the left lane or right lane, or I’m tailgating, or a car has passed in front of me, I shouldn’t be driving.

This dash cam has a battery that charges and holds a charge. I mostly rely on that battery when I’m parked and want to look at some footage. I don’t use it for filming while driving, because I like having the dash cam automatically turn on and off when powered on and off. I don’t like to think about needing to recharge it.

Also, I didn’t mount my dash cam on the windshield, since that is illegal in my state. To mount it on the dashboard with the suction mount, I have to place it upside down. Since I want to view video right side up on my computer, I opted to use a generic dashboard mount to hold the dash cam.

Bottom line: I get clear video I can play back on my dash cam or PC, which makes the AT55C one of my favorite dash cams.

My daughter thinks these Pearl with Cubic Zirconia Accented Drop Earrings are too dressy for me. They are dressy. I could wear them out for the evening and they would look great. They dress up my blouses, also – just not jeans and a t-shirt, I guess. I’ve gotten a number of compliments on them already. Costume jewelry that doesn’t look cheap. I like it.

It’s hard to see where one could go wrong with a desk lamp. It turns on, it turns off. This one can dim and fold down.

Where the Powerslife Desk Lamp went wrong is with the controls. Touch and it turns on. Long touch and it turns off. Those are the instructions. In practice, it’s not so easy. Touch, and it might turn on. Instead, touch and fiddle and rub your finger around. Touch and hold, and it might turn off. Or wait, and try again. If they could make the controls more responsive, I could like this lamp better.

Because I don’t have a calibration weight for a bathroom scale, I tested the Digital Bathroom Scale by VIVE using a different tactic. I want to see how well it detects a change in weight. After all, we weigh ourselves to see how much we’ve lost or gained.

First, I weighed an object on a small scale that has been tested for accuracy. The object weighed 2 pounds. I got on and off the scale with and without the object. The difference? 2 pounds.

Not only can it accurately detect weight change, it has easy to read screen (at night and from a distance) and a smooth surface that quickly wipes clean. Units of measurement include pounds, stones, and kilograms. The only drawback is if you’re especially large. The maximum capacity is 330 pounds.

The DUXTOP Electric Burner looks great. Two burners is enough for me to make the family dinner, but I’m afraid to cook on it because it rattles inside. It sounds like something broke off and is rolling around. I’m afraid to use an electrical element that heats up when all is not right.

Curious George Teach isn’t just for toddlers. In fact, I think some of the activities on him are too advanced for a toddler. Most of them won’t have the dexterity for the buckle, the snap takes a bit of strength, and I know many kindergarteners who can’t tie.

No matter, kids of any age will enjoy him as simply a stuffed animal. My eleven year-old took him to bed with her the first night. He’s so incredibly soft and huggable.

I only ever buy OEM ink for my printers, because all other attempts at generic have ended up costing me the life of my printers. They clog up the printer heads and the printers print no more.

Standard capacity is all I need for my Workforce WF-7620. Each box of Epson DURABrite Ink will last me about six months. Occasionally, I will have a large printing project, but otherwise I normally don’t print more than a few times a day.

I like the colors. They look great for photos and graphics, and they don’t smudge unless I’m using the wrong type of paper (e.g., glossy laser print paper).

I was hoping the AGPtEK® Pet Tracker would replace my other dog tracker, which requires a monthly subscription. This dog tracker only needs a SIM card. How cool is that? I figured maybe if I could just pay $10 for 100 days and only use it when the dog gets out, I would save money. She doesn’t escape very often.

Be aware that if you choose this tracker, you are stuck using the included collar. You have to slide the collar through two slots on the tracker. Most collars have clasps and buckles that won’t fit through those slots.

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

The instructions are difficult to decipher. If you can read broken English, you’re good. I didn’t know that “shock” meant “shake.” I thought “monitor” meant keep an eye on my dog, not turn off tracking and listen to her surroundings when I call. I had no clue what “authorized number” was. The number on the device? A password? The SIM’s phone number? No, it’s the phone number of the cell phone you want to use to communicate with the tracker. I still don’t know what SOS in the app does. I turned it on and didn’t see any changes.

Not only are the instructions poorly written, they are incomplete. Through my interaction with the vendor, I found a lot of commands that weren’t included on my sheet.

APP

The app is confusing. There are two portions. Hard to describe, but one half is for sending SMS commands and the other half is more app-like. The SMS half sends commands via texts. It’s supposed to, but those texts never make it to my tracker.

The app-like half is not specific to this tracker but rather a whole slew of devices like OBD, vehicle, and person. “Dog” was not an option, so I chose “person.” I got a live map of the location right off the bat, but I couldn’t get geofence to work.

TEXTING

I like texting the commands directly for programming the collar and skipping the app all together. After I figured it out, it wasn’t so hard. You text the commands like you would text a friend. The hard part is remembering the commands (or figuring out that “shock” means “shake”) and keeping track of where you are as far as what you’ve commanded.

Call the collar and it will text back a location. That was my favorite part. Select the coordinates and a map pops up.

GEOFENCE

This is what I really wanted. After nearly thirty email exchanges, I haven’t gotten it to function. I am going to give it up now, as I’ve drained one SIM card of money. I didn’t know it would take so many texts to test this thing out.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I’ve only had this tracker for a little more than a week. Just as I was giving up on setting the geofence, the tracker stopped working. Maybe it’s the SIM card? No, I reloaded it with cash. Maybe it wasn’t charged? No, I plugged it in and let it charge until the red light turned off (i.e., fully charged). I took the card out and placed it back in to reset it. It no longer works.

When it did work, it had a huge learning curve, partly because all the programming terms are ambiguous and the English is so poor.

Even after I got the hang of it, I couldn’t tell what was programmed into the tracker, except by looking back at the texts. If we’re playing around with it trying to get it to work, it’s hard to tell what’s on and what’s not.

I think I’ll keep my other tracker. The competitor may require a subscription, but it has a geofence and doesn’t require much learning.